Following are key facts about former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who was executed for crimes against humanity on Saturday:
* Born Saddam Hussein al-Tikriti on April 28, 1937, in al-Awja, near Tikrit.
* Sunni Muslim. Twice married. Three daughters, three sons (two deceased).
* Becomes president in 1979.
* Launches war against Iran in 1980. It lasts eight years and costs hundreds of thousands of lives.
* Invades Kuwait in 1990, but US-led forces drive his troops out in 1991.
* US launches war against Iraq in March 2003; Saddam found hiding in Tikrit in December 2003.
* Court case begins in October 2005 when Saddam is charged with crimes against humanity for the killing of 148 Shi'ite men after an assassination attempt against him in 1982 in the town of Dujail. Pleads not guilty.
* In August 2006 Saddam's second trial, on charges of war crimes against Iraqi Kurds, begins. He refuses to plead. All the main charges carry the death penalty.
* Saddam is found guilty of crimes against humanity for the Dujail deaths and sentenced to hang. On Dec. 26, the Dujail verdicts are upheld by the Iraqi appeals court. Saddam Hussein is executed on Dec 30 shortly before 6 am (4pm NZT).
